DISCLAIMER: Yada yada yada. This story is pure fiction,
all names and characters are made up and any similarity to real persons
is not only a coincidence, it's damn eerie! Of course, I make no
claims about the sexuality or opinions of the real athletes who are mentioned
in this story. You'd have to ask them yourself.

Part TenNew York City - January 7, 2001

At the Cincinnati airport, I had called my parents and told them to
spread the news. Hopefully everyone would be watching, especially
Ron. The game was being broadcast by ESPN 2, the deuce! I was
met at JFK airport by Byron and one of the assistants. Byron's left
leg was in a full cast and I found out that he had broken it the night
before in practice. I assumed that I would come in and skate a little
bit on the fourth or third line. I was way too young to just hop
into the fray of things. But, in addition to Kapanen's and Byron's
injuries, another of the wingers, Gary Roberts, was recovering from post
concussion syndrome. So at the airport I was informed that I would
be skating on the second line. They needed speed and with Kapanen
and Roberts out, I was the man they believed could fill in.

After leaving JFK, we made our way downtown to sixth avenue. We
were staying at the Marriot. It had been a while since I had been
in New York. I could feel the energy and excitement of the Big Apple
and I had goose bumps all over. I only had about half an hour to
relax before the team jumped on a bus and headed over to Madison Square
Garden.

My equipment had been shipped from Cincinnati and was waiting in the
visitor's lockerroom. The Hurricanes provided me with a helmet, gloves,
socks, and pants, so I matched the rest of the team. In the lockerroom
before our warm-up skate, several of the guys I had met before in Raleigh
came up to say hello. I was surprised that they remembered me.
I threw on my equipment and right after lacing up my skates an assistant
came over with my jersey. I held it up before putting it on.
This time it was official. I turned it around and saw the white number
8 and "Brewer" written on the back against the red background. The
goosebumps came back. I slipped it over my head.

I followed the rest of the guys as we walked through the tunnels and
to the ice entrance. I walked along the carpet through the tunnel
and I could see the arena. A few thousand fans were already filing
in and were scattered around the arena. As I walked out of the tunnel
I heard a few guys heckling us. They were leaning over the railing
shouting at us. I walked underneath them without a problem and stepped
onto the ice of Madison Square Garden. I took a few strides and began
to warm up my legs, not believing I was actually here. The Rangers
were already out on the ice and were taking shots on their goalie.
As we warmed up I looked around the arena. It was still relatively
empty but I had not doubt that it would be full soon with screaming Rangers
fans hoping for our blood.

After the warm-up we came back to the lockerroom for a final talk from
the coach, Paul Maurice. He went over the Rangers' defense and warned
us how to avoid giving up the puck in the neutral zone. Even though
Carolina was having a bad year, New York was doing even worse and we were
expected to win this one. At 12:45 one of the rink attendants poked
his head in the lockerroom. "They're ready for you!"

The team lined up, captains in front, followed by the rest of the players,
and the goalie, Irbe bringing up the rear. I nervously grabbed
my stick on the way out. I ended up dropping it and scattering the
rest of the sticks on the floor. One of the defensemen, Ozolincsh
patted my shoulder. "Relax, my friend. You'll do fine."

"Thanks," I said, trying to grin to calm my nerves. The butterflies
were raging in my stomach. We were led through the ancient hallways
and came out towards the edge of the tunnel where we were held up.
We listened as the announcer boomed, "Ladies and Gentleman, your New York
Rangers!" 16,000 fans cheered as the Rangers took the ice for the
pre-game skate. I watched them skate around the ice as the crowd
cheered and the music thumped.

We were finally released onto the ice and as I came out of the tunnel
the same guys from before heckled us, this time a little louder.
A chorus of boos met us from the rest of the arena. By now the garden
was jam-packed and there was a sea of white and blue Ranger's jerseys.
Surprisingly I was some red jerseys down by the boards behind one of the
nets. The ice had been freshly zambonied and I skated around to get
my legs warmed up again.

After five minutes we were huddled over to the bench for a last bit
of advice from Paul. "Remember guys, keep your heads up, watch out
coming across the neutral ice for their forwards trying to isolate you.
Nick," he said, as he glanced around for me. He made eye contact
and continued, "I know you're probably nervous as hell being out here.
But just do what you're been doing in Cincinnati. Your line is out
there first. It's best to just jump into something like this."
I swallowed hard. We broke up and I headed over to the center of
the ice to line up for the national anthem.

I took off my helmet as some guy belted out the first few lines of the
national anthem. I looked around the stadium. As nervous as
I was, this was going to be incredible. I just hoped I played okay.
I knew my friends and family would be watching. And I was positive
that Ron would be watching as well, happy as hell to see me skate in the
NHL. I had hoped to talk to him before the game but hadn't found
the time. The anthem ended and the crowd was cheering as we lined
up at center ice. I was skating with Jeff O'Neil and Tommy Westlund.
I lined up at the red line and waited for the ref to drop the puck.
Mike York, one of the Ranger's right wings lined up across from me.
"It's your first game, right?" he asked me politely. I nodded.
He smiled. "Good luck man," I felt some of the nervousness
melt away and my tense lips pursed into a forced smile. He continued,
"Because I'm gonna pound your fucking head into the boards all night."
His smile disappeared and he stared me down. I looked away.

The ref threw the puck to the ice and O'Neil got a stick on it and squirted
it over to me. Immediately York skated over and jabbed his stick
against me hard. I tried to skate up the ice with the puck, but York
continued to hook me with his stick. I dumped the puck up the ice
and tried to get away from him. Unable to shake him, I blindly threw
an elbow behind me and connected with his face. He went down to the
ice immediately and the ref's hand went up, signaling a penalty.
The whistle blew.

He gestured over to the penalty box and said, "Let's go buddy."
I skated over into the penalty box and sat down on the bench. Now
York would be looking for me all game to kick my ass. Great.
I heard the ref yell through the hole in the glass. "Number 8, Carolina.
Two for elbowing." The door closed and the ref skated away.
I was half-aware of the Rangers fans behind me heckling me. I'm sure
I'd be getting it all night.

"Carolina penalty to number 8, Nick Brewer. Two minutes for elbowing
at 0:11 of the first period. That's number 8, Nick Brewer at 0:11
of the first period."

Well, at least I heard my name on the loudspeaker. I was going
to get an earful from Paul when I got over to the bench. Hopefully
we would kill it off and not give up a goal.

The defense played well and after two minutes the Rangers had not been
able to score a goal so I stepped back out onto the ice. The puck
went out over the boards right after so I skated over to our bench for
a line change. No one said anything to me as I stepped back onto
our bench. I took a seat. Paul came up behind me and put his
hands on my shoulders. "Hey, good job out there."

"Sorry about that penalty, coach."

"Don't worry about it. He was asking for it. Keep your head
up on the ice. Don't let someone blind side you." At least
he wasn't mad. The first period ended in 0-0 tie. As we filed
off the ice the guys above the tunnel gave us shit again. I noticed
they were all drinking and assumed it would get worse as the night went
on. I had played well but hadn't touched the puck too much.
The play on both sides was pretty sloppy and there were a lot of giveaways.
I felt it was going to be a low scoring affair. York and some of
the other Rangers had been on my ass the whole time, but I was fending
them off well. The one thing that shocked me was the pace of the
game. It was so much quicker. Obviously, the guys in the NHL
are better than in the IHL, but I didn't expect the difference to be this
much. I found them flying all around me. It was hard to just
keep up with the plays.

I started on the ice for the second period too. This time O'Neil
lost the face off and the Rangers got it deep into our zone. After
a couple of tough shots on goal that Irbe deflected away, I got the puck
up to O'Neil who skated it out. The crowd was in a frenzy of excitement
from the near scoring opportunities. O'Neil made a couple of nice
moves and was able to get past the Ranger's forwards. One of the
defensemen went after him, but missed and O'Neil found himself streaking
up the ice with Westlund on a two-on-one. I skated as fast as I could
to try to catch up. O'Neil made a beautiful pass to Westlund who
one timed it right back to O'Neil. O'Neil wound up and fired high
to Richter's stick side. Somehow Richer found the puck and made the
save. The puck trickled out and was just out of the reach of O'Neil
as he skated by. The defenseman tried to skate over to it but I had
been coming up hard from behind the play and got there first. I found
myself 15 feet out from the goal with an open shot, so I took it off.
The puck screamed into the top shelf past Richter. The goal light
came on. It took me a minute to comprehend what had happened.
Then I raised my stick and pumped my arms several times. The other
players came over and grabbed me in a bear hug.

I was ecstatic. I couldn't describe the jubilation to you.
By the time I skated over to the bench I had been smacked on the helmet
and patted on the back about a million times by my teammates. The
goal was announced to a sporadic booing throughout the stadium but I was
elated. I had scored against one of the premier goalies in the NHL
in my first game ever! I was still tingling by the time the second
period ended. We brought a 1-0 lead into the lockerroom with us.
By this time the guys above the tunnel were piss drunk and yelled loudly
at me as I passed below them. "Hey number 8, you suck! You're
gonna get laid out by Leetch next time you come across the blue line!"

I smiled to myself as I ducked under the tunnel. It felt good
to get them riled up. After the game, if we won, maybe I'd say something
back to them.
As I walked back towards the lockerroom I was stopped by Brian Engbloom.
"Nick, can I grab you for a minute?" I nodded my agreement, trying
not to look too excited.

The camerman got in position and the light came on. Brian stood
next to me. "I'm standing here with Nick Brewer of the Hurricanes,
playing in his first NHL game ever. Nick, tell me how it feels getting
your first goal in your NHL debut?"

"Obviously, I'm pretty excited," I said into the microphone. Jeff
and Tommy had a great two-on-one, and I happened to find myself in the
right place at the right time. I guess I got lucky."

"Well it takes more than luck to beat Richter, but I congratulate you
all the same. What's your take on the team's situation right now?
There are some key players missing from the line-up."

"It definitely makes things tougher for us. We've got to turn
things around if we want to be playing in April. This team has some
pretty good depth though and I think that that's certainly not impossible."

"Well, I'll let you get back to your lockerroom, thanks for your time."

"No problem. I just want to say something to someone back home."

"Go ahead."

I looked into the camera. "Ron, that was for you man. Hang
in there!"

The camera light went off and Brian shook my hand. "Thanks, Nick."

"You're welcome."

The third period was fast and furious as the Rangers came at us with
everything they had, trying to get back that goal. With five minutes
left in the game, they neutralized our lead on a powerplay. Leetch
ripped a one-timer from the point that deflected off one of our guy's skates.
The crowd went wild and the stadium got really loud. You could feel
the momentum shift their way. By the time my next shift came, time
was winding down in the third period. It looked like we'd have to
go into OT. The Rangers were energized and the crowd was especially
loud. It was amazing how noisy the stadium could get. We finally
put some pressure on them and got the puck deep in their zone. I
got to skate it up as Paul called out for a line change. I pretended
that I was going to dump the puck as I headed past the red line and the
defensemen in front of me relaxed. I got a burst of speed and was
able to get away from him. A lot of players were shocked at how quickly
I could gather speed. It was one of my strengths.

I got just inside their zone before another player pressured me so I
took a slapshot and tried to get the puck on net. As I took the shot
the player skated in between me and the net, blocking Richter's view.
Luckily, I got the shot off before the defensemen slammed into me knocking
me down hard. As I careened into the boards I expected to hear a
loud shout of approval from the crowd; but to my surprise I heard nothing.
After I stopped spinning I looked to see where my shot had gone.
The goal light was on and Richter was smacking his stick on the crossbar
in frustration. I had scored again!

I got off the ice and was met in a bear hug by our captain, Ron Francis.
"We should have called you up sooner, man!"

There was less than a minute remaining and some in the crowd were already
starting to shuffle out of the building. Again, I was surrounded
by my teammates and congratulated. My head was spinning, not from
the hit, but from the fact that I had scored two goals plus the game winner
in my NHL debut. The Rangers pulled their goalie but time winded
down the game ended, a 2-1 win for us.

Raleigh, North Carolina - January 16th, 2001

There it was in big bold letters across the front page of the The
News and Observer.

SOMETHING A'BREWIN' IN CAROLINA

Rookie Brewer Breathes New Life Into 'Canes - 1C

I turned to the sports section and started to read.

BREWER COMES UP BIG FOR 'CANES

Raleigh, NC - Call it rookie luck. Call it what you
will. The fact of the matter is, Nick Brewer's six point road trip
and last night's stellar performance against the Bruins has helped slumping
Carolina close the gap with Boston and the eighth and final playoff spot
in the Eastern Conference.

The Canes went on a three game road trip trailing Boston by ten points.
Three straight wins, one against Boston cut the deficit down to six.
Then last night, came the icing on the cake when the 'Canes blanked the
Bruins 4-0 in front of a sellout home crowd.

Brewer's Hurricanes' debut had him scoring the 'Canes' only two goals
to get the win over the New York Rangers. In games against Toronto
and Boston, he notched another goal and added three assists. "I don't
really know what to say," Brewer commented, "I felt comfortable with the
puck and was lucky enough to be in some situations where I could do something
with it. I'd be lieing if I told you I'm wasn't just as surprised
as everyone else."

Then last night, Brewer pulled three goals out of his bag of tricks
to record his first career hat trick. The always modest Brewer commented,
"It didn't click with me immediately after the third one. It wasn't
until I saw all the red hats coming over the boards that it dawned on me,
I had a hat trick."

Since his arrival a few weeks ago, Brewer seems to have injected
new life into the team. Team captain Ron Francis ended his scoring
slump with two goals and Jeff O'Neil re-gained his fast and furious style
of play as the sluggish 'Canes came out battling. Notoriously bad
in the month of February, Carolina will need to continue to dig out wins
as they move through the end of the season to get a shot at the playoffs.

"We've lost some key guys," Francis said, "maybe for the rest of
the season. Everyone has got to pull even harder now as we head down
the home stretch." Asked about Brewer, Francis said, "I don't know
what it is, but you can feel there's a different vibe on this team with
him being here. He's really enthusiastic and its great that we were
able to get someone with his size and his speed from down below (in the
minors). You usually don't see that at that level, from a guy this
young."

Carolina's sweep of the Bruins gives them some momentum heading into
a four game home stretch. "It's always good to go into a home stretch
on a winning streak," head coach Paul Maurice said. "You can feel
the excitement in the fans and players and it gives you that momentum you
need, which is critical at this point in the season."

"We win tonight and we've got something good going for this stretch
at home that could carry us all the way to the All Star break," Maurice,
said. "I'm happy to get three games on the road but we've also got
to stay focused and keep on churning ahead."

Look for the 'Canes to do just that in their next home game Saturday
against the Devils.

Durham, North Carolina - January 17th, 2001

I wiped the sweat off my brow as we shuffled into the lockerroom.
We had a tough practice in the morning and our afternoon session was nothing
short of grueling. I peeled my sweaty equipment off as well as the
flimsy tee-shirt I wore underneat my shoulder pads. I grabbed a bottle
of water pouring it over my head before taking a huge gulp. I sat
their for several minutes thinking, before getting up to pull my hockey
pants down and add them to the pile at my feet. I paused as I sensed
that something was wrong. The normally boisterous lockerroom had
suddenly gone quiet. I looked behind me and saw them.

Ron Francis stood a few feet behind me with a sick and twisted grin
on his face. The rest of the guys stood behind him with their own
smirks. Ron held up a bic razor and a bottle of shaving cream.
Grinning even more he said, "Time to be welcomed on the team, Nick."

I tried to bolt for the door but was tackled by a group of my teammates
before I had even taken three strides. Every team has its ritual
and I had heard rumors of what the 'Canes did to their rookies. I
prayed it wasn't true.

I was carried over to the trainers table and laid on my back.
I vainly tried to hold onto my underwear but it was no use. Strong
hands grabbed it pulled it down to my ankles as even more hands held my
legs and arms to the table. I was kicking and shouting, trying to
break away from their grip.

Glen Wesley said to me, "Struggle, Nick, and you're going to get cut.
You don't want that, do you?"

I realized the truth and I stopped flailing. I laid back and gave
up. I heard the whirl of an electric razor and closed my eyes as
they began to shave my pubic hair. "Damn, this boy's going to be
popular with the ladies. Check out that rod!" I heard one of the
players say.

Another chimed in. "Yeah, until they see he's bald as a billiard
ball!" The other guys laughed as the razor moved up and down shaving
my pubes. I didn't think it could get worse until I heard and felt
the shaving cream being sprayed on my crotch. I opened my eyes to
watch as Francis made the first pass over my crotch. He passed the
razor to another guy, and then to another guy until the entire team had
had a chance to shave me. Finally, they let me go and I stared down
at my crotch. I was completely hairless. And god did it itch!
There were a few nicks and scratches too.

"Welcome to the Hurricanes", Sandis Ozolinsch said, patting me on the
shoulder. Enjoy your stay! I got up off the table and sheepishly
pulled my underwear back over my shaven privates. I had been initiated.
At least that was over.

TO BE CONTINUED...

OK, I'm back on track. Sort of. Expect a new chapter soon.
Comments are always welcome at h_2_t@hotmail.com. Until next time...